PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Social Media (11 March 2021)

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many officials in (a) his private office and (b) the wider Department have been allocated to the production and promotion of online content for use on social media in (a) 2018-19, (b) 2019-20 and (c) 2020-21.

Asked by:
Darren Jones (Labour)

Britain is fast becoming a digital-first nation. Roughly 96% of the UK households now have internet access with 66% of the population in the UK using social media.

With this monumental shift in media consumption habits, it is essential for a responsible government to pivot its communications strategy to be more digital-first, to inform and engage the general public on important policies.

Government communication runs across all channels including TV and radio advertising, out of home, digital and social media, print, direct channels such as letters, SMS and webinars, virtual and in-person activity, where needed and in full compliance with social distancing restrictions.

The DCMS News and Communications team leads on managing the department’s social media content as part of its day to day work, which includes a digital team of six that leads on creative content production across all of our corporate channels including online (for social media) and also offline, out of home and internal comms channels. This grew from a team of five people during 2018 to 2019. There are also two members of staff within Private Office who support on digital comms, as part of their wider roles.

Answered by:
Dame Caroline Dinenage (Conservative)
23 March 2021